Our next port of call would provide a stark contrast to many of the previous ones in Indonesia. Whereas in earlier ports, we saw a lot of extreme poverty, in Brunei we saw a lot of extreme wealth, especially when it comes to anything relating to the sultan, who is one of the richest people in the world. His palace has a whopping 1,788 rooms! He does spread the wealth around, however. Both healthcare and education is free to all citizens, and there’s also no personal income tax. The city is very nice and the streets are very well-maintained.

In Brunei, we visited a museum focusing on the life of the sultan and displaying various items belonging to/given to the sultan, most of which were either solid gold or gem-studded. We then walked around the downtown area, photographing some of the water villages, which are unique to Brunei. The highlight of our visit, however, was the Omar Ali Saifudin Mosque, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful in Asia. It features giant gold domes and its own lagoon. We spent a lot of time photographing there before returning to the ship. Here are some images from the day: